ASSE looked set to finally beat Lyon on their home turf when Dabo, who also saw red in this fixture last year, was given his marching orders for a headbutt on Max Gradel that was reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane's famous red in the 2006 World Cup final.

But just 10 minutes later Michel Bastos smashed in a 25-yard free-kick before St Etienne's night completely fell apart with the dismissal of substitute Alejandro Alonso.

Lyon's win was sweetened further as they increased their lead at the top of the standings to five points after Marseille suffered a shock 3-0 defeat at home to Lorient.

Goals from Jeremie Aliadiere, Benjamin Corgnet and Kevin Monnet-Paquet condemned the Mediterranean club to defeat, with the fans turning their ire against club president Vincent Labrune at the final whistle.

Marseille were hampered by the 38th-minute dismissal of Charles Kabore for the foul that led to Aliadiere opening the scoring from the penalty spot, but even before that turning point the hosts had hardly appeared poised to take the game to a team with just one win in nine prior to kick-off.

High-flying Bordeaux were held to a goalless draw at lowly Reims.

The visitors had their chances, with Kossi Agassa making several decent saves and Yoan Gouffran volleying just wide late on.

But Reims actually had the better opportunities as Floyd Ayite hit the crossbar and Florent Ghisolfi forced a superb save from Cedric Carrasso.